We were talking about the plain jane steel wheels and dog dish hubcaps. I personally love the way these look on Mustangs. I have a set of steel wheels from my Grande and a can of Gulfstream Aqua laying around. I sprayed the wheels (excuse the overspray) and put on some dog dish caps. I like the way this looks and will be painting the other 2 wheels (have to order more paint) and getting new BFG radials installed.

Jason;
If I'm not mistaken I remember seeing a lot of the Big block stangs back in the late 60's coming from the dealers with that same setup. Rims were painted body color and had the same caps. They did this to kinda hide the fact it was a big block (sleeper). Chevy was big on doing this to with Nova's and Chevelles.

If you are looking for impact among the average, every day, general public I think those wheels will greatly lessen the impact. IMHO most people won't drool as much over a car with painted wheels and hub caps as they will over pretty, shiny wheels. That said; if you like them and you aren't concerned about the drool meter then go for it. Drool is difficult to clean off the paint anyway.

That's the thing. Like we've always said, it's your car and it's your decision to make it the way you want. I've received several emails and comments from friends here about why I'm putting a 428 CJ in my car. Because it's what I want. Besides, I can build one easier than I can find one at a decent price in todays market. Sure it will still be an "S" code and it will always be just that. I don't plan on snowing anybody with what I'm doing to the car. Besides, it's kinda obvious without the CJ hood.

Plus, it's saves my original "S" code 390 block with stamped VIN.
That's my main reason for doing it. Besides, I'd rather go up then down the totum pole.

Jason, Here's my vote. Do as you please and make the car as pleasurable to your eye as possible. Down with the naysayers. Looks good ,and as you say, you can change them back anytime you choose. That's my creed as I restore my car, don't do anything permanent that you can't change back again.

We were talking about the plain jane steel wheels and dog dish hubcaps. I personally love the way these look on Mustangs. I have a set of steel wheels from my Grande and a can of Gulfstream Aqua laying around. I sprayed the wheels (excuse the overspray) and put on some dog dish caps. I like the way this looks and will be painting the other 2 wheels (have to order more paint) and getting new BFG radials installed.

I hope my post didn't come across as too negative. I was heading out the door and typing fast. I like that look on certain cars. Like Don said it was used on a lot of sleepers in the '70s. A lot of Mopars had small hub caps with 440s and 426s hidden under the hood. It'll make those who know about muscle cars wonder what you have under the hood that you are trying to play down!

But, as a general rule, if 2 identical cars are parked side by side more people will flock to a car with the nice wheels than the car with the hub caps.

Some people buy these cars strictly for the show-off value and others buy them just because we like them. It sounds like you and I are firmly in the latter category Jason. We fix them up the way we want because it makes us happy, with just a little touch of a need to show off too. Maybe 80/20.

I feel the same way as Don. This is why I'm putting a larger engine in my car also.
This is a truely realistic way of looking at this engine swap. Should one ever wish to return the car to stock condition, the hardest piece to return to stock would be the engine if you had built it up. Replacing it completely frees us from this limitation and we don't have to (almost) feel guilty about damaging an original component. I'm going with the 351W and a T-5. I keep getting these aluminum 427 urges but I can't swallow the price tag on one of those at this time in my life.
My original engine sits in my garage completely intact with all original parts, down to the plug wires, coil, smog equipment, and the 20 years of dust that was on it when I purchased the car. Eventually I will clean and detail it just in case. But that will come long after I finish my restoration.

My HCS also has the dog dish caps with color keyed wheels. It's hardly a sleeper with it's 289, but I'm going to keep the caps as is. I kind of like the look because it sets it apart from those w/ styled steels.